Fluidic artillery round counter

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for providing an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube is provided in combination with such tube. This apparatus uses fluidic components to sense the zone charge and compute the effective rounds fired. The number for the effective rounds is displayed on a mechanical register. The gas from the gun tube is the only source of power for this apparatus. It consists of a check valve, a volume capacitor, a regulator, oscillator, a counter, and a mechanical summing register. Each time an artillery round is fired, gas from the gas tube passes through the check valve, a fluidic diode, and into the capacitor. The gas thus collected in the capacitor is then fed to a fluidic oscillator via a regulator. The fluidic oscillator is the type that has the output frequency independent of temperature. The collected pressure will be a function of the zone charge used, and consequently, the duration of oscillator output is directly related to the zone charge used. Thus, each round fired produces a weighted number of oscillations from the oscillator which in turn are fed into the counter and then to the register for storage and visual display.

United States Patent [191 Cox et al.

[ Feb. 19, 1974 FLUIDIC ARTILLERY ROUND COUNTER {75] Inventors: Lyndon S. Cox, Silver Spring; James W. Joyce, Jr., Rockville, both of Md.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC.

[22] Filed: Aug. 9, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 279,144

[52] US. Cl. 89/14 R, 42/1 E, 235/201 FS, 346/38 [51] Int. Cl. F41! 17/00 [58] Field of Search. 42/1 E; 73/167; 89/1 R, 14 R; 235/201 PF, 201 FS; 346/38; 137/557, 804,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,306,747 12/1942 Ojalvo 42/1 E Primary ExaminerStephen C. Bentley Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Edward J. Kelly; Herbert Berl; Saul Elbaum [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for providing an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube is provided in combination with such tube. This apparatus uses fluidic components to sense the zone charge and compute the effective rounds fired. The number for the effective rounds is displayed on a mechanical register. The gas from the gun tube is the only source of power for this apparatus. It consists of a check valve, a volume capacitor, a regulator, oscillator, a counter, and a mechanical summing register. Each time an artillery round is fired, gas from the gas tube passes through the check valve, a fluidic diode, and into the capacitor. The gas thus collected in the capacitor is then fed to a fluidic oscillator via a regulator. The fluidic oscillator is the type that has the output frequency independent of temperature. The collected pressure will be a function of the zone charge used, and consequently, the duration of oscillator output is directly related to the zone charge used. Thus, each round fired produces a weighted number of oscillations from the oscillator which in turn are fed into the counter and then to the register for storage and visual display.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures ,eon ruse 1 PAIENIED GUN TUBE REGULATOR '12 $02308 m fruwuuw COUNTS FLUIDIC ARTILLERY ROUND COUNTER RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or the US Government for governmental purposes without the payment to the inventor of any royalty thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore there was no system or apparatus for pro viding an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube. Such a mea surement is valuable in this art because the current practice is to replace the gun tube after a predetermined number of rounds have been fired without regard to zone charges used to fire these rounds. A system to automatically perform this counting has been desired for some time now. In addition to a basic sys tem to perform the counting, a system which includes in its count a compensation for the zone charge used is also desired. Such a system would safely extend the service life of the gun tube and at the same time eliminate the need for Army personnel to tally rounds fired. The invention described surmounts the foregoing problems and difficulties in artillery.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and novel apparatus and system to render an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from a artillery gun tube.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new novel system and apparatus using fluidics for providing an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube.

It is yet an additional object of this invention to provide a new and novel apparatus and system for providing an accurate count of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube which will also include a compensation for the zone charge used.

It is still an additional object of this invention to provide a new system and apparatus for measurement of the effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube which will eliminate the need for Army personnel to tally rounds fired.

Still another additional object of this invention is to provide a new and novel fluidic artillery round counter which senses the zone charge used and computes and displays the effective rounds fired and displays this number on a mechanical register.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent with reference to the following specifications and drawing which relate to several variations of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

SUMMARY In accordance with this invention a new and novel apparatus and system for providing an accurate count ofthe effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube is provided which uses fluidic components to sense the zone charge used and to compute the effective number of rounds fired. This number is displayed on a mechanical register. The apparatus and system consist of a check valve, a volume capacitor, a regulator, an oscillator. a counter and a mechanical summing register. In operation, each time the artillery piece is fired, gas from the tube passes through the check valve,

a fluidic diode, into the capacitor. The gas thus collected in the capacitor is then fed to a fluidic oscillator via a regulator. The fluidic oscillator is the type that has the output frequency independent of temperature. The collected pressure is a function of the zone charge used, and consequently, the duration of the oscillator output is related directly to the zone charge. Thus, in this invention each round produces a weighted number of oscillations from the oscillator. The oscillations from the oscillator are in turn fed into a fluidic or mechanical counter and then to a register for storage and visual display. The system is fool proof in that the only way to generate a count is by pressurizing the barrel. This is the life-determining variable to be measured. The system utilizes fluid power from the pressurized gun barrel as a sole source of power.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects, aspects, uses, and advantages thereof will clearly appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the apparatus and system comprising a fluidic round counter in combination with an artillery gun tube.

FIG. 2 is a graph of the effective rounds fired versus the artillery round counter count registered and dis played from the mechanical register.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The system and apparatus of the present invention will be easily understood in its broad aspects by reference to FIG. I wherein there is shown a graphic flow chart of the operation of the fluidic artillery round counter in combination with the gun tube. The invention provides an accurate count ofthe effective number of rounds fired from an artillery gun tube by actually measuring the effective zone charge used to fire the artillery rounds. The system consists of a check valve 20, a capacitance volume 21, a regulator 22, a fluidic oscillator 24, and a fluidic or mechanical counter 25 whose output is fed into a mechanical summing register 26. The preceding enumerated components of the system are in combination with a gun tube 10 having a small opening 23 in the side thereof with a tube 19 attached thereto and interconnected to the check valve 20. In operation, each time the artillery piece is fired, gas 18 from the gun tube 10 passes through the check valve 20, a fluidic diode, into the capacitance 21. The gas 18 is thus collected in the capacitor and is then fed to a fluidic oscillator 24 via regulator 22. The fluidic oscillator 24 is the type that has an output frequency independent of temperature. The collected pressure in the volume capacitor 21 will be a function of the zone charge used, and consequently, the duration of the oscillator output can be related directly to the zone charge. Illustrated in FIG. 2 is the count registered from the sum ofthe oscillations plotted versus the effective number of rounds fired. In this manner, each round fired produces a weighted number of oscillations from the oscillator 24. The oscillations from the oscillator 24 are fed into a counter 25 which in one particular embodiment of the invention is fluidic and in another particular embodiment of the invention is mechanical. After this is done the output from the counter is fed into a register 26 which mechanically sums the output from the counter and stores and visually displays this sum. The total reading can therefore be related to the effective number of rounds fired from the gun tube as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 2, once the safe number of rounds has been fired a marker on the register may be used to indicate the need for the replacement of the gun tube. Note the only way to generate a count is by pressurizing the gun tube l0, and this is the life determining variable ofsaid tube 10. The use of fluidics in this system permits it to be driven by gases from the gun tube 10. No separate power supply is needed. Furthermore, the use of fluidics minimizes the number of mechanical moving parts required and thereby enhances the reliability and ruggedness of the over-all system and apparatus. By eliminating moving parts outside a sealed mechanical counter 25 and mechanical summing register 26, there is no need for lubrication maintenance, and thus only minor additional cleaning procedures are required over and above the present method.

It is to be understood that the inventor does not desire to be limited to the exact details of constructions shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with an expanding fluid apparatus of the type wherein a tube closeable at one end and having at least one small orifice therein is provided for firing a zone charge and directing a projectile, the improvement which comprises means, connected to said tube, for detecting the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube which utilizes the gas used to pro pel said projectile; means, connected to said means for detecting the occurrence of a firing, for indicating the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube; first said means further comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply; and a flueric oscillator, connected to the last said means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for indication comprises a flueric-to-mechanical signal converter.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a fluidic summing register.

4. in combination with an expanding fluid apparatus of the type wherein a tube closable at one end and having at least one small orifice therein is provided for firing a zone charge and directing a projectile, the improvement which comprises means connected to said tube, for detecting the occurrence ofa firing of a pro jectile from said tube utilizing the gas used to propel said projectile, said means further comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply means, connected to last said means, for utilizing said gas to provide oscillations; means for indicating the occur rence of a firing of a projectile from said tube, last said means connected to said means for detecting the occurrence of a firing of a projectile; said means for providing and controlling said gas supply comprising a fluidic check valve,

a fluidic capacitor,

and a fluidic regulator.

S. A device for detecting and indicating the occurrence ofa firing ofa projectile from a gun tube utilizing a portion of the compressed fluid used to propel the projectile comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply; means, connected to last said means, for utilizing said gas supply to provide oscillations; said means for providing and controlling said gas p y comprising a fluidic check valve,

a fluidic capacitor, and

a fluidic regulator.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said means for utilizing said gas to provide oscillations comprises a flueric oscillator.

7. The device of claim 6 further comprising a flueric counter and a fluidic summing register.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said capacitor collects a volume of fluid having a pressure that is a function of the zone charge.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said check valve is a flueric diode. 

1. In combination with an expanding fluid apparatus of the type wherein a tube closeable at one end and having at least one small orifice therein is provided for firing a zone charge and directing a projectile, the improvement which comprises means, connected to said tube, for detecting the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube which utilizes the gas used to propel said projectile; means, connected to said means for detecting the occurrence of a firing, for indicating the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube; first said means further comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply; and a flueric oscillator, connected to the last said means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for indication comprises a flueric-to-mechanical signal converter.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a fluidic summing register.
 4. In combination with an expanding fluid apparatus of the type wherein a tube closable at one end and having at least one small orifice therein is provided for firing a zone charge and directing a projectile, the improvement which comprises means connected to said tube, for detecting the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube utilizing the gas used to propel said projectile, said means further comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply; means, connected to last said means, for utilizing said gas to provide oscillations; means for indicating the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from said tube, last said means connected to said means for detecting the occurrence of a firing of a projectile; said means for providing and controlling said gas supply comprising a fluidic check valve, a fluidic capacitor, and a fluidic regulator.
 5. A device for detecting and indicating the occurrence of a firing of a projectile from a gun tube utilizing a portion of the compressed fluid used to propel the projectile comprising means for providing and controlling said gas supply; means, connected to last said means, for utilizing said gas supply to provide oscillations; said means for providing and controlling said gas supply comprising a fluidic check valve, a fluidic capacitor, and a fluidic regulator.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said means for utilizing said gas to provide oscillations comprises a flueric oscillator.
 7. The device of claim 6 further comprising a flueric counter and a fluidic summing register.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said capacitor collects a volume of fluid having a pressure that is a function of the zone charge.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said check valve is a flueric diode. 